Our second look at Adidas football boot adverts through the years covers the period from 1972 through to 1983. The Adidas organisation went from strength to strength during these years and being a West German company in a decade of great West German sporting achievement offered considerable opportunity.
Major global icons like Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller were signed up as key Adidas men with the marketing focus narrowing around individual personalities, rather than the broader team-based approach of the sixties. The use of company founder Adi Dassler on some of their late 70s ads did feel like something of a misstep: a septuagenarian businessman talking about improving sporting performance did not convince in the way it would had Kevin Keegan said the same words.
Adidas print ads remained simple in both cosmetic appearance and the message they sought to convey. The only faintly exotic flourishes came with the names of the actual Adidas footwear itself. Boots named Mexico City, La Paz, Santiago, Laplata, Penarol or Inter hinted at an exotic Latin glamour quite at odds with the dry and somewhat stern northern European sensibilities the company represented.
The most well-known and successful Adidas range was more soberly named after the game’s top international competition. The Copa Mundial was a moulded boot used for matches on firm and dry pitches while the World Cup was its equivalent for softer ground.
Beyond The Last Man 
There isn’t a football boot in the world that will beat David Beckhams predators. The one with the white areas on the front. I had a pair for about 4 seasons, they needed repairing every t6 months but I couldn’t buy another pair.
I have spent years looking for the boots I wore from 1969 approx to 1974 they were Adidas Lawrence 101 I loved them in those yrs I bought a totally pairs can’t find them anywhere even write to Adidas ha they could not help does anyone pleas,please,if you know of them let me know.
Gordon.
There were no Adidas Lawrence boot. However, there was an English football boot brand called Lawrence which had a model called the 101. Hope this helps.
I had a pair of Lawrence 101 boots in the early 70s – they were very good but I subsequently moved on to Adidas Santiago which were on a different level. I was hooked on Adidas for life and still wear their running shoes for walking. I also had some Lawrence ripple running shoes which were great, too. Lawrence made some excellent sports shoes and were a fine British brand.
Sorry, no such thing. Lawrence football boots and Adidas were two different companies, I used to sell both brands when I owned sports shops in the Manchester area in the 1960’s and 70’s.
Lawrence football boots usually had four stripes.